


december came, something changed.

by vicbartons



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Christmas, Co-workers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-01 18:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16770424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vicbartons/pseuds/vicbartons
Summary: To Aaron, setting his best friend up with the girl of his dreams had seemed like a worthy enough cause to team up with his least favourite co-worker for. And how hard could it really be to hijack the office Secret Santa? But then again, when had one of Robert Sugden's schemes ever worked out the way he planned?





	december came, something changed.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you, but especially to the brilliant and ever so thoughtful @rustandruin on Tumblr who basically made this fic possible by putting a brilliant spin on what had seemed like an impossible concept before. So thank you, because this wouldn't have been possible without you! (Unless you hate it, then you had nothing to do with it and i take full responsibility).
> 
> Title from "First Winter" by Wrabel.

**Thursday, November 22nd**

Ever since Aaron could remember, the world had been trying to sell him on the idea that people in love were a joy to be around; just had that glow about them or whatever. Come to think of it, so had his mum and Paddy whenever he'd come home late to find them snogging on the sofa and frowned at them. But from what Aaron could tell, Adam had been head over heels in love with Victoria Sugden from the day she first walked through the doors of the Kingsdale Gazette roughly 6 months ago. Unrequited love, that is. Or at least that was what Adam was worried about. And the only word Aaron could find for it was annoying. There was no glow, no spreading of happiness, not even an 'in' with that fit bloke who picked her up to go to the gym every Tuesday, who Aaron could have sworn was gay.

None of that, no.

Just annoyance.

“Can't you just finally ask her out and have it done with?”

It was Thursday afternoon - the inarguably worst time of every human's work week - and the two of them were stuck on their sixth cup of coffee of the day in a desperate attempt to avoid their desks and make time go by just that little bit faster. Adam was stood at the kitchen counter, shoveling spoonfuls of sugar into his cup to make the bitter brew bearable. He only shook his head without even facing his friend, who had made himself comfortable on the worn-out dark green sofa that occupied most of the tiny space.

“And have her turn me down on the spot?” With a grumble, Adam put down the spoon and grabbed the package instead, pouring some more sugar right from it. “Nah, thanks. This needs some proper planning, mate.” At that he looked over his shoulder towards Aaron with his brows drawn together like he couldn't believe that he was being forced to explain this most basic of concepts yet again.

“You've been planning this for months now, Ads.” Aaron slouched down further into the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table, sending a few old editions of the Gazette that no one had bothered to clean up flying to the floor.

“Have not.” It came out as more of a hiss than actual words, the worry of someone overhearing them clear in Adam's tone. “Shut up.”

Aaron only hummed into his coffee in acknowledgement, downing another sip to cover up the laugh that was bubbling in the pit of his stomach at the sight of Adam's reddening cheeks.

“Aren't you usually the one to tell me to just go for it and trust my instincts and all that,” he asked over the brim of his cup. And it was true, usually his best mate was all confidence and terrible pick-up lines; dragging Aaron out to clubs, the threat of his unfortunate wingman skills a constant hum in the background of every single one of their nights out. Needless to say that shyness and blushing cheeks normally weren't part of the package.

“Well yeah, but Vic's not just some random bird in a tatty club though, is she?”

With a slap to Aaron's thigh to get him to move over, Adam slumped down onto the sofa, shuffling to make room for himself. His eyes however were solely fixated on the open door, staring into the war zone - as the staff lovingly called it - where Victoria's desk was sitting just out of sight.

“She's obviously keen. So just go over there and ask her out for a drink.“

At that, Adam turned back towards him. “Cause you know so much about women and their feelings.”

Just this once, Aaron gave him a pass for the casual bit of homophobia. Adam was lucky that he was clearly in a state of distress, his last bit of logical thought obviously having left him the moment he'd laid eyes on Victoria for the first time. Not that there'd been too much of it to begin with, Aaron thought to himself.

“It's quite obvious, innit? She brought you that fancy cupcake that one time.”

Having been brought in to head the new 'Home and Lifestyle' section of the paper's blog - now that they were “expanding into the online space” as Nicola had cheerily announced, like all the staff were oblivious to the paper's dwindling numbers and the fact that this was her last ditch attempt at keeping the lights on and all of them off food stamps - her bringing in homemade treats had basically become routine. The chocolate monstrosity that had ended up on Adam's desk a month or so back on the other hand very much hadn't been.

Nevertheless, his observation only earned Aaron a half-shrug. “She was being nice,” Adam muttered and all Aaron could do was raise his eyebrows at his friend, befuddled by his obliviousness.

“I didn't get one.”

“Maybe cause you're not.”

“What?”

Adam side-eyed him. “Nice,” he deadpanned, scratching at his beard.

“Cheers.” With a quick jab, Aaron landed his elbow right between his friend's ribs, but not even that was enough to stop Adam's trademark cackle from filling every last corner of the room. Aaron just huffed.

“Anyway,” Adam continued once he'd caught his breath, “I'm not just looking to get laid, ya know? Vic, she's-”

“She's what?”

“I-”

Robert Sugden was their stand-in sub-editor while Jimmy was stuck at some conference in Leeds, the epitome of a pencil pusher - if Aaron had ever seen one - and by all accounts a massive dick.

He also happened to be Victoria's older brother.

“You do know that's my sister you're talking about there, right?” He closed the door behind him before stepping closer to build himself up in front of the sofa, towering above the two of them with his hands on his hips as he tried and failed to look threatening; neither his fluffy blond hair and high cheekbones nor his lanky limbs and the dark brown elbow patches that were adorning his white dress shirt exactly lending themselves to the tough big brother act.

“Give over,” Aaron countered with an eye-roll, ”she's a grown woman, so I doubt she needs you fighting her battles for her, eh, tough guy?” Even in front of his kinda, sorta boss, Aaron's smugness wouldn't budge. Next to him, Adam was chuckling, his initial embarrassment already forgotten.

“Don't you have some cricket game to get back to? ”

“Oi,” Adam stood up to match Robert in height. ”We still have five more minutes of-” But Robert wouldn't even let him finish before snarling at them again. “Just get out, will ya?” At that he turned his back towards them and busied himself with the tea chest.

Aaron was just about to drag Adam away when Robert spoke up again, seemingly unable to help himself.

"And quit it with the excessive commas, Dingle. You're not Proust, so do us a favour and try a full stop every now and again," he added, speaking more to the kettle than to Aaron.

There were a number of insults sticking to the back of Aaron's throat, but it just didn't seem worth the hassle under the circumstances. Jimmy would be back before Christmas, which would set them free from Robert Sugden's reign of terror, his 8am check-in e-mails and 11am scheduling meetings that had cost Aaron one too many full lunch breaks this week already. No need to give the man more reasons to needlessly torture them while he had the chance to. That and he did indeed have to finish a 400 and odd words piece on the Acomb versus Scarborough game. Riveting stuff, but he still needed it done by five, if he didn't want to be working overtime tonight. So he got up, gave a grumbling Adam a shove to the back and headed to his desk, leaving Sugden to his own devices.

Not without turning back around to flick the older man the bird as soon as Robert was distracted by the herculean task of scavenging the office fridge for something edible though.

:::::

As if Robert had needed any more proof as to why he hated the sports department and every certified lad that worked in it.

Maybe it made him judgmental, but he'd worked in journalism long enough by now to have realised that some stereotypes were really nothing more than cold hard facts turned legends. Like that all journalists were inherently nosey people, that you'd never find an ounce of truth in The Sun or that any man who could happily spend most of his work day waxing poetically in three paragraph “articles” about other men running after a ball like a bunch of headless chicken was exactly the kind of bloke that Robert had been trying to avoid ever since school: Loud, obnoxious and too dimwitted to take on a topic of more substance.

It was a good thing that Jimmy was the one who usually had to deal with them, Nicola's husband being just the right mix of half-witted and gullible to be endeared rather than annoyed by their antics. Safe to say that taking over for him as sub-editor hadn't been at the top of Robert's list, especially not when the government was basically on the brink of collapsing under the self-inflicted idiocy of the Brexit negotiations on the daily and there were actual news to write about. But after he'd managed to crash and burn his last chance at taking over an executive position in a stunt that could have rivaled Apollo 13, editing Aaron and Adam's drivel for a couple of weeks was his chance to finally get a foot in the door and make sure that he'd be atop of Nicola's list by the time Eric would finally retire from his Editor in Chief job in the new year.

The last thing Robert needed however, was for one of said laddish sports dimwits to try and get with his sister.

What he needed even less, was for his little sister to actually reciprocate those feelings.

Robert wasn't blind. He'd noticed how Vic had ditched her usual, casual work uniform consisting of jeans and a hoodie for nicer shirts and dresses. How she would always bring in some extra treat when she'd tried a new recipe at home, making sure Adam would get a taste.

Being a true Sugden, Victoria had gone all in. Nothing stopping her once she had her eye on the prize, though Robert didn't have a clue why that prize had to be Adam Barton of all people.

And even if he hadn't noticed any of that, her using her emergency key to let herself into his flat a month back only for him to find her crying on his sofa and four glasses deep into his best Chardonnay as she was going on about why men had to be such morons who “couldn't read the signs, even if you clocked them over the head with them” would have been somewhat telling.

With a disgruntled sigh, Robert pulled a glazed doughnut that was already missing a bite from a box with Adam's name on it before he slammed the fridge door shut again and made his way back to his desk.

**Friday, November 23rd**

“I don't like you.”

At the noise, Aaron looked up and pulled his headphones down, the Sam Fender song he'd been blaring still audible even with them hanging around his neck. Robert was perched on the corner of his desk, barely finding room between all the papers and post-its and a half-eaten Cadbury Caramel that Aaron hadn't even known had been hiding there.

“You what?”

“I don't like you.”

Aaron raised his eyebrows at him. “Right back at you,” he countered, shaking his head in disbelief. “Is there a 'but' coming or do you just enjoy going round insulting the people you work with so they can find even more reasons to hate you?”

Robert had a reputation.

If the office chatter was to be believed, he'd been a proper big-shot at some national agriculture magazine - an Editor in Chief position at his fingertips - when he'd suddenly been dumped back in smalltown Yorkshire. Officially, he'd been let go because of “creative differences”. Those differences apparently being that he'd been playing away from home and the missus had taken more than just his wedding ring off him when she'd kicked him out. That wasn't as official, but sounded much more believable to anyone who'd ever had the displeasure of sharing a room with Sugden and his annoying private school boy charm for more than five minutes. Or maybe that was just Aaron.

Either way, Robert hadn't exactly been working to prove the tales of the great philanderer that the office gossips had been spinning about him wrong, already having left a tail of broken hearts behind him that spanned from Donna in Crime to Katie in Marketing in the 12 short months he'd been working for the Gazette.

That wasn't what bothered Aaron, however.

What he couldn't deal with was the way that Robert had treated them all afterwards: Ignoring them while he had his nose high up in the air, only forcing himself into conversation with them to make demeaning comments about their work or order them around like he had the right to. And not just them, but pretty much every person in the office that he deemed beneath him. Which was everyone. Except Vic. And maybe Nicola, though if Aaron were her, he'd watch his back around Sugden. Because he seemed the type to charm his way into a chance to stab you in the back.

“You're one to talk.”

Robert's words snapped Aaron out of his thoughts.

He was, of course, completely wrong.

Yes, Aaron was well aware that his perpetual grumpiness didn't exactly make him employee of the year and yes, his bluntness and general disinterest in the lives of most of his co-workers could be construed as rude at times, but that was hardly comparable.

Nevertheless, Robert wasn't done yet. ”And anyway,” he tried to set Aaron straight, ”people don't hate me.”

“You keep telling yourself that so you can sleep at night.”

That earned him an eye-roll.

“I'm still waiting for that 'but', ya know.”

“I don't like you,” always one for the dramatics, Robert paused, “but Adam does.”

With a sigh, Aaron let his head fall against the back of his chair. “So?” he asked unimpressed.

Robert only shrugged his shoulders, wearing the most self-satisfied look on his face that Aaron had seen on anyone in his twenty-six years of life. “So I reckon you and I should do something about the whole star-crossed lovers situation,” he explained, solidifying every preconceived notion Aaron had already had about him merely by being a grown man who could use the phrase “star-crossed lovers” in a sentence without so much as a blink.

“The what now?” he asked and made Robert sigh.

“Slow on the uptake as well. Should have guessed.” Robert did well to ignore the disapproving grunt that came from Aaron in response and keep going, "I'm talking about Vic and Adam.”

There were a lot of things Aaron took Robert Sugden for. Matchmaker wasn't one of them. “Well aren't you a regular cupid?” he mocked, still unsure whether or not the older man was joking.

He had to be.

“Just missing the halo, me,” Robert grinned, before tilting his head in thought. “Wait, did cupid even have a-”

“So you're serious then?” If it had been physically possible, Aaron's jaw would have dropped to the floor. Things being as they were, he had to settle for an exasperated sigh as he pushed himself out of his chair.

“Obviously.”

Aaron furrowed his brows at him. Wanting to give your friend a push in the right direction where their love life was concerned was one thing, but from the little he knew of Robert Sugden, he figured that whatever he had in mind probably involved a lot more lying and scheming than the usual wingmanning. And that was if actually getting Victoria and Adam together was even what he was aiming for and this wasn't just Robert playing a blinder, happy to toy with other people's emotions for his own personal gain.

And all of that didn't even take into account the fact that Aaron couldn't stand the guy, let alone trust him.

“You're proper mad,” he huffed before he turned around and left for his lunch break, passing Robert without another glance.

**Saturday, November 24th**

**Adam, 03:14 am**

u thInk she rly fancies me m8???

**Adam, 03:14 am**

ur right ill go 4 itt

**Adam, 03:15 am**

SHed be lucky 2 date me

**Adam, 03:15 am**

rite????

**Adam, 03:14 am**

i'm a cat5ch

**Adam, 03:16 am**

shw me 1 brd wHO wldnt want to get with thi88s

**Adam, 03:17 am**

there int one

**Adam, 03:45 am**

ok but wut if ur WRo9ng

**Adam, 03:46 am**

aaaon

**Adam, 03:47 am**

????

**Aaron, 03:49 am**

its 3 in the morning

**Aaron, 03:49 am**

go the fuck to bed

**Aaron, 03:50 am**

and ffs quit the tequila

**Monday, November 26th**

“So how would we go about this then?” Aaron wasn't exactly beaming with pride when he found himself leaning against the door to Robert's office the next morning, but there were only so many self-pitying middle of the night texts from his best friend a man could take before the situation called for desperate measures.

And there was nothing more desperate Aaron could think of than accepting the help of Robert Sugden of all people.

“Ever heard of knocking, Dingle?” Aaron kicked the door shut behind him with his foot in response. Having found the little anxious jolt the sudden noise had wrangled out of Robert quite enjoyable, he took things one step further and plopped down on the chair in front of Robert's desk with a thud before throwing his feet up on the table.

If they were going to do this, Aaron was going to have to make one thing clear from the get go: He was not going to be ordered around or messed with.

“So how would we go about this then?”

Robert barely lifted an eyebrow at him before getting on with it. “The Secret Santa, obviously,” he said, shoving Aaron's dirty boots off his paperwork with both his hands in one fell swoop.

“Obviously.” Aaron's narrowed brows did nothing to hide the apparent question mark tagged to the end of the word.

“We hijack it,” Robert explained. “Match them up and work both sides to get the other the perfect gift. Get some of Charity's famous punch down them on the night, maybe shove them underneath a mistletoe. You know, the works.”

There was a twinkle in Robert's eyes that told Aaron that he was enjoying this far more than the any decent person should. But more importantly, there was also a little twirl that Aaron could feel building in the pit of his stomach, telling him that he might possibly be a bit impressed with him.

To distract himself from it, he snuck a gummy bear from the jar sitting atop Robert's desk. “Someone's thought this through,” he acknowledged as nonchalantly as he could manage and threw the bear in the air, quickly pushing himself backwards in the swivel chair to catch it with his mouth before Robert even had a chance to continue.

"Can't all be daft like you."

And with that the twirl was gone again.

“Hilarious.” Aaron's lips were tightly pressed together, the word barely above a grumble. “So how's that hijacking going to work then?”

“Leyla.”

“Can you stop talking in riddles, mate?” Aaron crossed his arms in front of himself. “ It really doesn't make you look as smart as you think it does.”

Leaning forward over the table, Robert tilted his head. “So it does make me look a bit smart then, is what you're saying?” If Aaron hadn't know any better, he'd have said he was flirting.

“It makes you look like a prize prat, is what I'm saying,” he clarified and Robert pulled away with a sigh, rocking back in his chair.

“She's got a thing for me.” He sounded almost annoyed by it.

“Course she does.”

Ignoring the exasperation that was apparent in Aaron's tone, Robert picked up where he'd left off. “So I'll distract her while you switch out the real list for our rewritten one. She keeps it in her top drawer.”

Back in the day, they had gone about the Secret Santa by having Leyla walk around the office with a Santa hat in hand that everyone got to pick a name from. Never one to miss out on a chance of being the center of attention, Leyla had made a show of it, putting on a Christmas elf costume and handing out biscuits and punch that packed just a little more vodka than the higher-ups had deemed appropriate for 10am on a workday. Six weeks later, the first item of business on Nicola's New Year's agenda had been to “streamline the office” and “eradicate all unnecessary spending”, meaning that the blonde had done what she always did and sucked the fun out of the whole thing by having Leyla ditch not only the costume and the vodka but also the Santa hat until their once lively Christmas tradition had been reduced to nothing more than a single click as a random team generator sorted the staff into a two column Excel sheet.

It was a loss Aaron had never thought he'd come to appreciate, but here they were.

There was only one little thing he was still stuck on. “Couldn't you do this alone then? What do you need me for?”

Robert sighed.

“Because Adam wouldn't take a good bit of advice from me, if it came wrapped in a bow for free and with a million pound cash prize attached to it. Not even where Vic's concerned.”

Aaron couldn't really argue with his logic there. “Especially not where Vic's concerned,” he corrected. “And what are you getting out of this again?”

“Eternal happiness and love for my little sister.” Every syllable of it was undeniably dripping with faux goodwill, so Aaron got up, ready to leave.

“And people say you're a good liar,” he laughed without even bothering to face Robert.

“Fine.”

That was quick.

“Best case scenario,” Robert disclosed, “Vic realises what a muppet Adam is and dumps him within the day. Worst case scenario she at least stops moping over him. If we really play our cards right, we might even get this over with before the Christmas do rolls around.”

It didn't paint the most well-meaning image of Robert, but Aaron had never taken him for that kind of man anyway. The obvious sincerity of his answer on the other hand he could appreciate, even if it had come unexpectedly. Probably especially because it had.

Robert was clicking his ballpoint pen on the table, the tip pushing in and out again and again as he stared at Aaron expectantly. “So,” he inquired, ”does this mean you're in then?”

“Don't flatter yourself, Sugden. I'm not doing it for you,” he said with a smile dangling on the corner of his lips. “Some of us actually care about our friend's happiness, ya know.”

He was about to pull the door close behind him when he turned back to poke his head back through it one last time. “And proving you wrong about the two of them will be good fun too, I reckon.”

Aaron didn't like the smug grin that spread on Robert's face as he said it. The way it lit up his green eyes and made his dimples more pronounced.

He didn't like it one bit.

**Friday, November 30th**

Actually hijacking the Secret Santa turned out to be easier than either one of them had thought it would, though that shouldn't have been a surprise really. After all they were only switching out one piece of paper for another, not trying to steal the crown jewels from the Tower. It had taken Robert less than a minute to lure Leyla away from her desk with the promise of a cup of coffee from the fancy Nespresso machine in his office that had been the talk of the Gazette ever since he had dragged it in in the summer. And from there on out it had been a simple game of switcheroo on Aaron's part. Over and done with in two minutes and with only a slightly confused look off of Dan from maintenance that Aaron had already forgotten about by the time he sat back down in his chair, because everyone knew that the bloke barely cared about his own job, let alone what other people were doing with theirs.

**Sunday, December 2nd**

**Unknown number, 07:24 am**

“Add his favourite foods in on that list as well, will ya?

**Unknown number, 07:29 am**

“It's Robert.”

**Aaron, 12:59 pm**

“how did u get my number?”

**Unknown number, 01:04 pm**

“HR data base.”

**Unknown number, 01:05 pm**

“Did you just wake up now??”

**Aaron, 01:34 pm**

“dont tell me dianes got a thing 4 u 2”

**Aaron, 01:34 pm**

“shaddup its sunday”

**Unknown number, 01:42 pm**

“Don't be disgusting. She's my stepmom.”

**Aaron, 01:44 pm**

“oh right. forgot. ew.”

**Unknown number, 01:47 pm**

“She's also a lady in her 70's with a weak bladder and even weaker passwords.”

**Aaron, 01:52 pm**

“like mysonsamuppet01 or what r we talking?”

**Unknown number, 01:54 pm**

“Didn't know you two were related.”

**Unknown number, 01:55 pm**

“And if you need to know, it's more along the lines of 'Douggie'”

**Aaron, 02:02 pm**

“and now i regret asking”

**Robert, 02:23 pm**

“Serves you right.”

**Robert, 02:23 pm**

“I'll see you tomorrow”

**Robert, 02:57 pm**

“Bring the list.”

:::::

The List. Because of course Robert Sugden needed a tabulated list of all activities, movies, bands and places Adam liked on his desk by the next morning to guide Victoria in her search for the perfect gift. If anyone had asked Aaron why that's what he was spending his Sunday evening doing, he couldn't even have told them. But there he was nonetheless, huddled on the sofa with his tablet on his lap and a can in hand, writing up every interesting and not so interesting thing one needed to know about to really capture the full “Adam Barton Experience”, while Chapman and Shearer were yapping on about the pros and cons of Mourinho sticking with United on the telly.

**Friday, December 7th**

**Aaron, 06:36 pm**

“waffle iron do ya?”

It had been almost a week since Aaron had stumbled into Robert's office at 8:17 am to drop a twenty item heavy list on his desk and earn himself a disgruntled look for the slight delay. The list he'd gotten from Robert in return had gone on over three and a half pages, detailing practically every like and dislike of Victoria from early childhood up until now, divied up in categories and ranked by relevance. While his attention to detail and the obvious love for his little sister seeping through every bullet point had warmed Aaron's heart, making him think of nights spend playing Battlefield on the sofa with Liv curled into his side, the meticulousness of it all had also left him feeling slightly worried about his boss' social life. Or the evident lack thereof. That being as it may, the two of them had decided that it would be best for them to divide and conquer from there on out - Aaron working Adam while Robert tried to give Vic a push in the right direction - where the Secret Santa gifts were concerned, ideally even getting one of them to take the leap and ask the other out before those were to be handed over during the office Christmas party in less than two weeks time.

So far however, at least Adam had proven himself to be quite help-resistant, dismissing most of Aaron's - meaning: Robert's - ideas outright, declaring them too much or not enough or too personal or not personal enough or simply shit.

If it hadn't been so off-putting, Aaron figured Adam's utter determination to get this one just right might almost have been charming.

**Robert, 06:42 pm**

“What?”

**Aaron, 07:06 pm**

“as a gift 4 vic”

**Robert, 07:09 pm**

“Sure.”

**Robert, 07:09 pm**

“Add in a matching vacuum cleaner and a flat iron and they'll be married by New Years”

The reply forced enough of a chuckle out of Aaron that he worried about his coke coming back out through his nose for a second.

**Robert, 07:10 pm**

“What's Adam playing at?”

**Aaron, 07:24 pm**

“he reckons with vic being into cooking n all”

The phone was ringing in his hand before the two little blue check marks had even lit up next to his message. A smile tugged at his mouth as he looked down onto the screen which was showing a picture of Robert he'd taken during a company outing months ago. They'd spend their evening at one of those hipster-y escape rooms before stopping for some grub at a seedy chip shop down in Leeds where Robert had ended up with half a bottle of ketchup down the front of his pristine white shirt, thanks to a loosely screwed cap. The face he'd pulled alone had been too good an opportunity not to sneak a picture.

“I can't believe I'm helping that moron get with my sister,” Robert groaned down the line as soon as Aaron had picked up.

“Hello to you, too.” The smile was still plastered on Aaron's face, “and careful, Sugden. That's still my best mate you‘re talking about,” he chastised, but there was no edge to his voice.

“Is this were we finally talk about your bad taste then?” Robert didn't miss a beat and Aaron couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh.

It's really then that he should have realised just how screwed he was when it came to Robert Sugden. Or maybe when the unexpected phone call somehow turned from Adam's non-existent skills at wooing women to how Robert had once managed to flirt his way to a free five course meal and from gift ideas for Vic that didn't include household appliances to that time when Aaron's attempt at impressing a date with his cooking had ended with his hand almost getting caught in the pasta maker and it was almost midnight by the time Aaron hung up.

Yeah, definitely then.

**Monday, December 11th**

Robert was scurrying around his office, packing up for the day when the idea hit him. Usually, he made an effort not to have to see any of his colleagues outside of work. Well, at least unless the promise of sex was involved. But this was important. And anyway, it was Aaron. He didn't really know why that made a difference, but it made sense in his head nonetheless.

He pulled his phone out of his back pocket. If he was lucky and Aaron hadn't taken one of his 'early nights' - which Robert had had to learn meant him clocking out for a late lunch around two and then just never showing back up again - he might still catch him.

“Where are you right now?” he asked as soon as he'd heard the line click, skipping the formalities.

Aaron was used to it by now so the reply came quickly.

“Still at the office, why?”

Robert cradled his mobile between his ear and his shoulder so he could sift through a pile of papers on his desk in which his research about May's upcoming trip to Berlin was drowning under an annoyingly well-written piece of Aaron's about the discrepancy between sport's positive effects on mental health and the astonishing number of cases of suicide, drug abuse and alcoholism in professional athletes. Adam's recap of the latest Liverpool game was also somewhere in there, but it was riddled with so many typos that Robert had almost called the whole operation off before he'd even read through it completely.

“Great! Meet me out front in five, alright?” He offered and let out a sigh of relief as his car keys finally dropped out the pile and onto the floor.

“Why?”

Like it wasn't obvious.

“Because I know a decent pub round the corner and we need to talk about your best mate's taste in gifts,” he paused for a second and thought back to the awkward exchange between Vic and Adam he'd sadly been forced to observe at lunch today. “And his flirting techniques come to think of it,” he added.

Aaron laughed. “Do you realise how insane you sound right now?”

Robert pulled his bag over his head and locked the door behind him, already on his way out to the main entrance where they'd meet up. “So are you coming or-”

“See ya,” came the expected reply. “You're paying for that pint though.”

Robert could hear the smile on Aaron's face through the phone and soon found himself wearing a matching one. “Might even spring for two,” he teased, “if you ask really, really nicely.”

“Dick.”

He bit his bottom lip, stifling a laugh. “See ya, Aaron.”

:::::

They were already two pints in by the time Vic and Adam actually came up in conversation.

But Aaron didn't even mind.

He'd never thought that he could enjoy spending time talking to Robert of all people - let alone talking to him off the clock - but here he was, huddled into a thick, dark blue armchair next to a fireplace in a cozy pub, Robert right across from him with his cheeks bright red from warmth and alcohol and his usually overstyled spikey hair practically sticking to his forehead after a full day of work. Ever since they'd met up, Robert had been going on about that mental health piece Aaron had written on a whim months ago, never even daring to think he'd get it to print. And he hadn't, what with Jimmy calling it “a bit highbrow for the sports section” and burying it at the bottom of the 'filler' pile, never to be seen again. Until Robert had dug it back up when cleaning out what he'd called their boss' “sticky food drawer”.

And now here he was, spitballing about the possibility of turning it into a full series.

With Robert.

And he was enjoying every second of it: The way Robert´s whole face seemed to light up with every new idea, how he held eye contact longer than anyone Aaron had ever known, seemingly truly engrossed by everything Aaron was saying, how the small smile tugging at Robert´s lips turned into a full, bright laugh with every single one of Aaron's snarky remarks.

Victoria and Adam had basically been forgotten over it all until Robert's phone lit up

“Sorry,” he was hunched over the display, already typing out a reply. “It's just Vic, checking in.” Robert bit his bottom lip as he wrote to her, battling a smile, not even the slight annoyance at being interrupted enough to keep his affection for his sibling under wraps.

“That sister of yours is too nice for her own good, ya know?” 

Robert looked up at him, his lips forming a straight line. “Trust me, I do.”

There was far more weight to the words than Aaron had expected in response to his glib remark, but he didn't feel it was his place to pry, so he went for something far less heavy instead. “I think that's why Adam's been so daft when it comes to her. Guess he figures she's like that with everyone.”

“Well, that's on him, innit?”

Aaron only shrugged.

“Anyway,” Robert continued, “why does he care? From what I've heard he's not that bothered by a bit of rejection. Hasn't he tried it on with half the office already?”

“Cause he genuinely cares about her and don't start,” he gave Robert's foot a light kick under the table as he smiled. ”It's not like you're one to talk.”

“That's different,” Aaron only raised his eyebrow at him at that and it didn't take long before Robert deadpanned, “I don't get rejected.”

It was an opening Aaron couldn't not take, so he ventured forward a little, testing the waters with a canny “Not from what I've heard.”

It made Robert bite his bottom lip hard.

“Didn't take you for one of the office gossips,” he pressed through.

“I don't-”

But Robert was already one step ahead, seemingly feeling the need to defend himself.“Half of it's nonsense anyway,” he pointed out with a quick shake of his head.

“So you weren't going at it with your wife's sister then?” Aaron had always figured that that seemed a bit too out there, even for a flirt such as Robert.

It made Robert´s eyebrows rise.

“Nosey much?”

“I'm a journalist, mate.”

“Well…” Robert wagered, but it didn't pack any real heat. He took another sip from his pint and looked at Aaron intently, like he was weighing whether or not he'd come to regret letting Aaron in on too much of his usually so well protected private life. But whatever it was that he found in Aaron's eyes seemed to reassure him. “I'm not proud of it, ya know,” he confided in him, his voice almost shy.

Aaron softened with it. “That why she kicked you out then?” he wondered, but unlike a mere minute ago it was genuine concern rather than boundless curiosity edging him on.

“No,” Robert let his index finger run along the rim of his glass in circles a few times. “That was about her secretary,” he explained, his eyes never leaving his pint.

“Let me guess: Tall, blonde and legs for days. Bit of a cliché that, Sugden.”

That was when Robert looked up at him again, looked him right in the eye. “More like tall, dark, bearded and an ex-footballer.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I never figured,” now it was Aaron's turn to become a little flustered. “You never said.”

Robert shrugged it off.

“Not like it's anybody else's business.”

“Are you still in the closet then, that it?” Aaron wondered. “Not that there's anything wrong with it.”

It was him backpedaling, wanting to make sure that Robert wouldn't misread his words as judgment rather than worry. “It's just that I did that for a long time and it has a way of breaking you, Robert.” He lowered his voice at that, becoming serious. “I'm sure Vic and Diane would-”

It earned him a vehement shake of the head.

“No, I'm out. People know I'm bisexual.” It looked like the word was still a little new to Robert's tongue, but the smile that tugged at his lips as he said it let some confidence shine through. ”Wasn't really anything to do about that once Chrissie was shouting from the rooftops about me and him, was there? It's just the proud bit I'm still working on, I think.”

Aaron smiled back at him, wanting to reassure him. He wasn't exactly a 'Paddy' when it came to this stuff - his surrogate dad having taken more screaming matches and even flying fists than anyone ever should just to get through to Aaron, long after the rest of his family had given up on trying to figure out what on earth could make a teenager just this angry - but that didn't mean that he didn't want to try.

“Takes time,” he interjected. “I'd know.”

It made Robert's eyes widen in concern, deep lines appearing on his forehead. “Was your family not-”

“No, they were brilliant about it,” Aaron waved him off. “Just me who had the problem. Didn't want it, I guess.”

“Been there,” Robert admitted with a huff, but there was a bone-deep sadness to it.

“Well, good thing we're both here now then, innit?”

“I 'spose it is.”

They both turned to their drinks for a while after that, only sharing the odd conspiratorial smile over the rims of their glasses every now and again. Aaron knew that it was stupid, but he couldn't help but see Robert differently. Maybe not differently, just fuller. Like he'd cut into an onion for the very first time. Surprised by all the layers to be found once he'd gotten through its ugly, flaky skin and even more surprised by its ability to make him want to cry. That and, on a much less kitchen sink poetry kinda note, he wondered what had happened to his gaydar. Not that it was something he'd ever say out loud, but having grown up in the middle of flipping nowhere with very limited options, turning it into a finely honed precision instrument had kind of been key to him after coming out.

Robert Sugden just kept on surprising him and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Aaron let his mind wander for a while, enjoying the comfortable silence between the two of them until Robert pulled their lists out of his bag. “Shall we get back to the task at hand then?”

Aaron had almost forgotten about it. About the task at hand and them being supposed to be nothing more than an alliance of convenience. But with Robert back on his game again, it didn't take long for them to be bickering as they weighed the pros and cons of presents and date opportunities for the two people all of this really was about, as Aaron had to remind himself: Adam and Victoria.

“Adam just needs to stop trying to tell her and show her instead, ya know?” Robert argued, after the two of them had agreed that Adam wasn't exactly a man of big words and Victoria definitely wasn't one for his usual pick-up lines of the “your shirt would look great on my carpet” variety.

“Night out it is then,” Aaron agreed. “Didn't you put ice skating on Vic's list?”

Robert nodded enthusiastically.

“It's something our mum loved to do,” he explained and as he said it there was a twinkle in his eyes that Aaron hadn't seen there before. Not the usual, notorious kind, but something more warm and innocent.

“Not her thing anymore these days, is it?” Aaron thought of his own childhood when his mum had dragged him out to the ice rink, the purple bruises blooming on his hips and arse the ice had left him with the only memory he'd really kept of those trips. “Can't blame her.”

It had supposed the be a throwaway comment, but his laugh got stuck in his throat as he looked up at Robert from his pint.

“No-” It took Robert a second to compose himself before he spoke up again.

“She died.” And just like that Aaron had managed to make their conversation much more serious than it had been supposed to be once again.

Aaron swallowed hard. He could practically feels his cheeks go red from the embarrassment. “Oh god, sorry,” he spluttered, almost choking on his beer. Having cleared his throat, he tried again. “Sorry to hear that.”

In an attempt to trivialise, Robert waved him off. “It was ages ago, so-” Aaron however could see the pain etched into the other man's face. Pain that had probably been sitting there, hiding right under the surface and threatening to spill out every chance it got since the day it had happened.

“Doesn't make it less painful though, does it?” he amended and with one more look into Robert's eyes, he let his hand cover Robert's, giving it a short squeeze before pulling back again.

“No,” Robert gave in, “I suppose it doesn't.”

They sat in silence for a minute after that, the comfortable kind that usually only came with years of friendship. Aaron sipped on his pint and just took Robert in. The way he was right now: Quiet and lost in thought, all pretense and delusions of grandeur stripped away. So very different from everything that Aaron had thought to know him to be.

“Sounds like you're speaking from experience,” Robert mused.

“Let's just say I know a thing or two about missing a mum, eh?”

They were wearing matching sad smiles.

“So, ice skating you say?” It seemed like a jarring change of pace to their conversation, but there was only so much digging in their painful past that either one of them seemed to be able to bear, especially in front of someone they barely tolerated on an average day.

“Right,” Robert nodded, ”yeah. Vic would love it.”

**Saturday, December 15th**

**Robert, 05:24 pm**

Ice rink at half past 6?

**Aaron, 05:27 pm**

why?

**Robert, 05:28 pm**

Because I love to watch my genius unfold live and in colour.

Robert wasn't sure how Aaron had done it, but he had somehow managed to convince Adam to go ice skating with him. Vic on the other hand had obviously been far easier to persuade, basically jumping at the idea the minute he'd brought it up. And now it was just a simple case of ditching the both of them on as short a notice as possible and hoping they'd make something out of it. But he had enough trust in his little sister's guts, the boundless determination all the Sugden's shared in their DNA and even more importantly her inexhaustible love for both ice rinks and a good Christmas romance to know that she wouldn't let a chance like this go amiss, if it presented itself.

Especially after he'd spent the last couple of weeks leaving all those little notes on Vic's desk in Adam's name, complementing her latest blog post or recipe or making a funny joke about the latest office hijinx.

**Aaron, 05:34 pm**

sure u do

**Aaron, 05:35 pm**

fine

**Aaron, 05:35 pm**

see ya

Robert didn't even really think about his choice in words - or emoji for that matter - before he hit send.

**Robert, 05:36 pm**

It's a date ;)

:::::

Aaron found him leaning against the side of one of the wooden stalls of the Christmas market, a string of bright, blinking lights above him bathing his blond hair in ever-changing colours.

Pulling his hat down further over his ears, he stepped closer. 

“Hiya.”

Robert turned to him with a grin plastered to his face, his nose already red from the freezing cold. In lieu of a hello, he nodded towards the rink in front of them.

“We're brilliant, we are,” he acknowledged, looking like the cat that got the cream. That's when Aaron spotted them on the ice: Adam with his arms around Vic's middle while she pulled him along skating backwards. Big grins on both their faces as Vic obviously tried to somehow keep Adam upright, even when gravity and his lack of poise where trying their hardest to make him fall.

”Should think about turning this into a job.” Robert gave his shoulder a little bump, his smile growing even bigger as he watched Adam stumble and fall on the ice a few feet from them and the wind carried over the sound of Vic's jolly laughter.

“Dear god, can you imagine?” Aaron grinned, his breath forming little clouds in the air as he spoke.

Robert let out an honest to god chuckle in response.

“But we did well,” he beamed with his eyes wide and almost as bright as the lights above them. “Didn't we?”

Robert held his hand out for Aaron to shake at that and Aaron grabbed it happily, giving it a tight squeeze as the two of them smiled at each other.

They held eye contact for a second longer, cheeks flushing from more than just the cold, when Robert suddenly stumbled forward. From one second to the next, his tall, lanky frame had wrapped itself around Aaron in a hug after some passerby in the crowd had shoved the two of them right into each other.

Out of instinct Aaron´s hands found their way to Robert´s waist, holding him steady.

“Yeah, I think we actually did.”

It was a flustered chuckle whispered into the space between them, his voice a little shaky. With a stumped pat to Aaron´s back, Robert pulled back to untangle the two of them from each other.

Once he had, he looked down to the ground and awkwardly ran a hand through his disheveled hair, his cheeks now even redder than before. A lopsided grin was threatening to take over Robert´s face as their eyes met again and Aaron bit his bottom lip in response.

Hastily, he pushed both his hands deep into the pockets of his coat, daring them to hold still.

Because there was a tiny part of him - the one that could still feel the faint vestige of Robert's warm breath in the crook of his shoulder, where his nose had been pressed into him - that wanted to reach out and pull him back in.

And with that, right then and there stood under hundreds of glistening Christmas lights, with the smell of mulled wine in his nose and his fingertips still remembering the feel of Robert's hideous bodywarmer underneath them, that stupid twirling feeling was back in the pit of Aaron's stomach again. Warmer and bigger and much more persistent than when he'd felt it last.

Only this time, Aaron didn't want to distract himself from it.

**Sunday, December 16th**

Robert knew better than to think of Aaron as 'cute'. Grumpy, rude, proud, loyal, kind maybe. Certainly not cute though. But looking at him last night at the rink, with his nose buried deep in a navy scarf and a bobble hat covering his unruly head of hair, it had been the only word that had come to mind, really

And then there'd been that hug.

Unintended as it had been, things had been awkward between them after. The two of them standing across from each other with shy smiles and their hands in their pockets, unsure of what to say. But in that split second, with his nose buried deep in Aaron's neck, breathing in his aftershave, Robert had felt more comfortable and settled than he had in years.

He was an idiot, really, for not having realised it sooner.

Shuffling further down into Vic's sofa, he pulled his phone from his pocket and opened up his and Aaron's text chain.

He should have noticed sooner.

Should have noticed how him their interactions had turned from him huffing orders at Aaron in a detached manner and Aaron snarling back at him to genuine banter between friends in a matter of days. Should have noticed how he couldn't keep a smile off his face when reading Aaron's replies. Should have noticed how he'd become desperate to try and put a smile on Aaron's face in return whenever they were in a room together. Most of all, he should have noticed that all of this had stopped being about getting Vic and Adam together weeks ago and had instead turned into him simply seeking Aaron‘s company instead. His bright laugh, his stupid jokes and the way he never cowered around Robert the way so many of his co-workers did, but always had an insult waiting to be thrown at Robert to keep his ego in check instead.

“Promise me a night out and then you can‘t even be bothered to show up. You're lucky I ran into Adam, you know? At least Aaron had the decency to text him that he wasn't going to make it. You could learn a thing or two from him, ya know?” Victoria's voice carried over from the kitchen, but the words were barely registering as Robert tried to snap himself out of his daydream.

“Earth to Robert?” She was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, the fact that she'd quite obviously been talking to him for a while now to no avail apparent in the way she scrunched up her nose as she looked down at him.

“Could learn from who now?”

“Aaron,” Victoria offered. “Would do you a world of good, I reckon.”

Robert thought she might be onto something there. Much more so than she even realised.

**Monday, December 17th**

Knowing how he felt was all well and good, but it wouldn't bring Robert anything but misery unless Aaron felt the same. So he had woken up with a clear plan in mind: Figuring this thing between him and Aaron out. He had put on his favourite shirt and ironed his pants twice before going into work this morning, whispering all the words he was going to say to Aaron to himself as he walked up the staircase taking two steps at a time, not even caring that he probably looked like a lunatic to every co-worker that passed him by.

However, in the end it was Aaron who found him. Two cups of tea sitting in front of Robert on the kitchen counter as he was about to pour milk into them both.

“Great,” Aaron grumbled under his breath, making a beeline straight for the fridge without so much as looking at Robert.

It wasn't exactly the reaction he'd expected.

Nevertheless, Robert picked up the tea he'd made for Aaron - loads of milk and a spoonful of sugar, just how he liked it - and held it out towards him.

“Hiya,” he smiled, ”I was just going to-”

Without having taken anything out, Aaron slammed the fridge door shut and turned to look at him, his face red and scrunched up in anger.

“I got myself kicked out last night,” he stuck his hands in his pockets, leaving Robert's arm hanging in the air. “So thanks for that.” The words came out sharply through gritted teeth.

Robert only furrowed his brows at him in confusion. “You what?” His eyes were full of concern, his fingers desperate to reach out and touch.

“Adam knows,” came the reply.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Aaron spat. “Oh.”

“How did he-”

“Found your list on my dresser and took things from there-” Aaron was biting his bottom lip so hard it almost turned white. “Couldn't keep lying to him once he started asking questions.”

At that he paused for a second.

“He didn't really feel like living with me anymore afterwards.”

Robert‘s free hand reached over to Aaron then. There was an image of his fingertips softly running along Aaron‘s scruffy beard playing in his mind, the hope that Aaron might lean into the touch and let himself be comforted building within him as the two of them locked eyes and his heart started to beat a little faster.

But only for a second, until Aaron honing in on his hand and instinctively taking a step back at the mere sight made him think better of it.

Instead, Robert squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and took a deep breath.

“Aaron-” he started, pushing his hand into his jeans pocket, but Aaron wouldn't even let him finish.

“You're twisted, is what you are,” he snarled and it sounded far too much like his father not to make something churn in Robert's stomach.

It's what stopped him from speaking up and saying something. Made him just stay quiet and stare at Aaron instead, green eyes meeting blue ones.

“All this lying and scheming and for what?” The words were coming faster now, Aaron almost stumbling over them as he spoke. ”To make the two of them even more miserable than they'd been before, because you just had to stick your nose in?”

“They break up then?” Robert dragged his teeth over his bottom lip.

“Not yet,” Aaron shook his head, clearly unconvinced that it would stay that way for much longer. “But they didn't deserve that. To have their heads messed with like that,” he explained, his voice growing a little warmer.

“It's not like we were hurting anybody, Aaron,” Robert tried in a last ditch effort, unsure of how to make this one right. “I'm sure they'll figure it out.”

“Do you hear yourself?” It was almost a laugh, Aaron's cheeks still red and his eyes almost teary. “Your little sister is probably heartbroken right now, questioning her feelings and wondering if her relationship is just based on a big fat lie and you want what? For her to just get over it?”

Aaron took a step towards the door, shoving Robert out of the way as he went.

“Brother of the year you are,” he hissed with a shake of his head.

Slowly, Robert turned back towards him. “That's hardly fai-”

“I kept your name out of it by the way, so you're welcome.”

Robert's eyes fell to the floor as his fingernails tried to dig deep into the ceramic of the cup he was still holding. The tea in it slowly going cold now.

“Just get out of my face and keep your stupid plans to yourself from here on out, will ya Sugden?” And with that Aaron slammed the wooden door of the break room shut in Robert's face, but it barely even registered with him.

Because all Robert could think about were Aaron's stark blue eyes staring him down. The same blue eyes that had looked up at him with warmth just two nights ago suddenly having turned icy.

Robert had had the year from hell.

And yes, most of that had been his own fault, but that hadn't made any of what followed any easier. His whole life had come crumbling down around him, everything he was and thought he would one day be got turned upside down and inside out until he'd barely known his own name anymore. He'd lost his wife, he'd lost his job and he'd lost his home and ever since it had felt like he'd been falling, going from one scheme to the next, from one one-night-stand to another. Nothing truly getting to him. Nothing ever feeling right. Nothing to tie him back down.

And then Aaron had come around and somehow made it all okay without even trying. More than okay, really. So this? This needed fixing.

And now.

**Tuesday, December 18th**

It was only six thirty when Aaron stumbled into the office the next morning. Certainly far earlier than his usual starting hour, but sleeping on the sofa in the Woolpack instead of his bed for the night hadn't exactly worked in his favour. So after spending the night tossing and turning, not really ever falling asleep as he tried to wrap his mind around how everything could have fallen apart so quickly, he'd just given up on sleep all together by five and quickly downed a cup of coffee before grabbing his car keys and driving back into the city. Aaron hoped that maybe work would help to take his mind of things, even though that seemed highly unlikely with both Adam and Robert working within a stone throw of his desk. But at least his early start would allow him a bit of peace and quiet for now.

With a sigh, he slumped down on his desk chair, slowly spinning around in it a few times. His phone still in hand and headphones in, Aaron shuffled through his Spotify library, skipping on song after another until he landed on something he could work with. As he let Muse's loud guitar riffs and drum solos drown out the world around him, he grabbed a pen and started to scribble onto his notepad. It wasn't until almost an hour later that Aaron turned to his computer to type out some of what he'd put together and noticed the pink post-it note that was sticking right in the center of his screen.

It wasn't signed, but after having been taunted by hundreds of Robert's handwritten notes over his work for the past few weeks, he would have recognized the neat cursive that was so unlike Aaron's own messy scrawl anywhere.

Following the orders on the small piece of paper against his own better judgment, Aaron went to pick up one of the day's papers from the pile in the foyer, where the postman had already dropped them off. On the way back to his desk, he started to flip through the pages in search of the letters to the editor.

He sat back down, skimming through the entries and hoping that something would catch his eye. Brexit. More Brexit. Something about Jeremy Hunt. Some bloke loving Vic's trifle recipe. Nothing that seemed relevant at all, until-

> _“ **TO THE BLOKE WITH THE KIND BLUE EYES WHO ALWAYS OVERUSES COMMAS** , _
> 
> _I'm sorry I took things too far. I seem to have a neck for doing that. Someone once told me I was a bit mad and I didn't believe them, but I think they might have been right. (Yes, I know it was you. Don't let it get to your head.)_
> 
> _I once told you that I didn't like you._
> 
> _I'm pretty sure I was wrong about that too._
> 
> _\- The prize prat”_

Aaron shook his head at it. How on earth had Robert even gotten this to print?

It was the dumbest and cheesiest thing Aaron had ever seen and yet he was struggling to keep a smile off his face.

Carefully, he ripped the small square from the paper and stuck the letter to the side of his computer screen with a piece of tape.

**Wednesday, December 19th**

Robert stumbled into the office at a quarter past five, feeling like he‘d just been run over by a train, his head pounding with the remnants of red wine still running through his system.

But there wasn‘t anywhere else for him to be.

Not after the not so subtle telling off he‘d gotten from Nicola in reply to him trying to let her know that he might have to miss out on the Christmas party. Apparently, skipping out on socialising opportunities with the rest of the staff for “what sure as hell looked like a serious hangover over lunch” didn‘t exactly show his “executive spirit” and “people skills”.

So here he was, miserable and tired and in an unironed shirt he had pulled straight from the drying rack upon reading Nicola‘s email. Two hours early at that to show just how invested he was in his job and a potential promotion by helping set the whole thing up.

The night before had been a mess.

He had tried to go to bed early just to make the day end a little faster after having spent most of it obsessively checking his phone in hopes of finding a text from Aaron after the apology letter had gone to print. Only none ever came.

For hours, Robert had lain in bed, tossing and turning but never actually falling asleep until he‘d had enough and put on his shoes and his jacket before taking the twenty minute drive to Victoria‘s at a quarter past eleven, still wearing his pyjamas.

There‘d been crying and screaming and about an hour of the silent treatment as Victoria had busied herself angrily beating puff pastry in the kitchen after he‘d admitted to his involvement in the whole matchmaking disaster. But then they had ended up on the floor of Victoria‘s living room with their backs against the sofa, his little sister‘s head on his shoulder and a bottle of Sauvignon between them, because they were both tired and spent and a little heartbroken and his sister had always been too kind and forgiving in the face of all the mess he made.

From the look he saw on Adam‘s face now, as he watched him battle with a pile of tangled cables on the office floor, trying to set up the overhead projector before everyone would show up for the Christmas do, he was quite certain that he wasn‘t the only one running on far too little sleep today.

Saying that Robert had never been a big fan of Adam would have been a massive understatement, but that didn‘t stop him from feeling responsible for it all.

The younger man looked a state. Even more so than usual with his reddened eyes and messy shirt, sporting sweat patches. And as much as it peeved Robert to admit it, looking at him he realised that the guilt nibbling at him wasn‘t just on behalf of his little sister and the grumpy sports journalist he‘d fallen for.

Because even mind-numbingly uninteresting bloke‘s bloke Adam didn‘t deserve to be this miserable.

And then there was Victoria who might have been talking a good game last night about wanting to focus on her career and her and Adam not being a true match anyway with all the unwanted help it had needed to get them together in the first place, but none of her talk had been able to cover up the crack in her voice every time his name had come up in conversation or the twinkle in her big brown eyes as she recounted that night at the ice rink.

Robert being who he was, there was already a plan forming in the back of his mind. The only problem being that he needed to get Victoria to the office in order to make it happen.

So as he wandered into the break room to see if he couldn‘t sneak two cold cans of beer from the fridge, he called Victoria‘s favourite pizza place across town and ordered to pizzas Hawaii before sending off a quick text to her.

**Robert, 05:24 pm**

Brenda just dropped two baking tins full of biscuits on the floor. I know you said you‘re not in the mood for a party, but you‘re the only person I know who‘s already got enough homemade ones sitting in their kitchen to feed an army. Think you could bring by a few?

**Robert, 05:25 pm**

Pretty please? You‘d be a lifesafer xx

Because what was one more little white lie when it could possibly procure lifelong happiness and love for his favourite person in the world, right?

:::::

Even with the space crowded by people and Christmas decorations, Aaron spotted Robert right away.

He was leaning against the door of his office with a can of beer in hand, seemingly too preoccupied with flicking its tab around to actually pay attention to the party going on around him. For a second, the two of them locked eyes across the room, but before Aaron had even had the chance to think about whether or not it would be a good idea to go over and talk to him, the older man dropped his head and disappeared into his dark office, kicking the door shut behind him.

Pushing his hands down his pockets, Aaron made his way through the crowd in search of someone half-bearable to chat with and preferably some booze. He barely acknowledged the greetings from his co-workers in passing, some of them already well past tipsy, screaming along to every cheesy, overplayed Christmas song they were blaring over some Youtube playlist on the overhead projector.

It‘s why he barely blinked an eyelid when he noticed a couple snogging against the printers.

Aaron took another few steps before he stopped in his tracks and turned back around, the dark purple hoodie the bloke was sporting far too similar to the one he‘d been looking for for weeks after the washing machine had seemingly eaten it.

Adam had sworn he didn‘t have a clue where it had gone.

Only he had obviously been lying, because there he was with Victoria pinned underneath him and her hands in his hair as the two of them were giggling and kissing, not a care in the world for all the people around them.

It didn’t make any sense whatsoever.

Unless Charity‘s notoriously dangerous punch was even better than usual this year. Only he doubted that.

Nevertheless, it took him two cans, almost a full ten minutes of mind-numbing smalltalk with Brenda and a text from Adam telling him to keep quiet when he came home cause he had someone over until Aaron found himself in front of the door to Robert‘s office, wringing his hands.

With a deep breath, he reached out and pushed down the handle.

“They got back together,” he said upon entering and it sounded like there was a question mark tagged to the end of it.

Slowly, Aaron closed the door behind him, drowning out Tracy and Kerry's pitchy rendition of 'All I Want for Christmas' until it was only the song‘s steady baseline that carried through into the office.

Robert was slumped at his desk with his feet on the table, phone in one hand, biscuit in the other when he looked up at him with wide eyes, like Aaron was the last person he had expected to talk to tonight.

Quickly, he put his feet down and sat up straight.

“So I heard.” It came with a slow nod as Robert‘s bottom lip got caught between his teeth which managed to make him look shier than ever before.

Even with the room illuminated by nothing more than a few strings of fairy lights and his desk lamp, Aaron couldn't help but notice that Robert looked a little rough; his shirt slightly ruffled and light blue circles shining through the pale skin beneath his eyes. There was a part of Aaron - the one that was still annoyed with him and angry with himself for ever having gotten involved with Robert Sugden in the first place - that felt validated, because it meant that he wasn't the only one who'd been having trouble sleeping. The only problem was that that part paled in comparison to the concern he was feeling just looking at him.

And Aaron was finding it harder and harder to ignore the latter.

For a moment, the two of them just silently stared at each other, both of them unsure of what to say, until Robert decided to face the floor instead, his shoelaces apparently the most fascinating thing he‘d ever laid his eyes upon all of a sudden.

But not before Aaron had caught the hint of worry sitting on his face.

“Did you sort things out with Adam then?” Robert asked under his breath and he might as well have been speaking to the carpet with the way he kept staring at it.

“I've been granted a stay of execution, I think,” Aaron tilted his head at him, unable to stop a feeling of guilt taking hold in his stomach, like he had maybe taken things a little too far the last time they‘d spoken to each other. “Probably just cause he figured that playing FIFA on his own would suck.”

He tried for a joke, but it didn‘t land.

The tension between the two of them was still palpable, hanging in the air and making every breath heavy. Probably because they were both well aware that that wasn't the truth. Well, maybe there was some truth to it, knowing Adam, but there was also more.

There had to be more.

Looking at him now, Aaron suspected that one of them knew that even better than the other.

“Robert?” he wondered, stepping closer until he was leaning against the desk and could lightly let his foot tap against Robert‘s to get him to look up at him. His voice was calm and warm now. “What did you do?”

The fact alone that it didn't even come to Robert to make some snobby comment about Aaron's thick boots getting the italian leather of his shoes dirty told Aaron all he needed to know about Robert's current state of mind.

Instead, Robert‘s raised his head again. “Did Adam say something?“ he asked, closing his eyes in frustration. “I told him to keep you out of it.”

“Why?“ Aaron furrowed his brows at Robert.

“Because believe it or not,” the words almost got swallowed by the palm of Robert‘s hand as he ran it down his face and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, “sometimes I actually don‘t just do things to earn myself a pat on the back.”

It should have come as a surprise, really, with everything Aaron had always thought Robert to be. But if he had learned one simple lesson in the last couple of weeks, throughout all this nonsense, it was that Robert Sugden was a lot of things, but he was very rarely predictable.

Especially not where matters of his heart were concerned.

And at the end of the day, that‘s exactly what Victoria was.

So was it really that surprising that he would try and step in to fix the mess they had made any way he could?

Not when you saw him now, drained and unsure of himself. And certainly not, if you had ever spared the time to actually look past all of Robert´s illusions of grandeur: Beyond the elbow patches, the expensive watch, the Porsche and the smug smile. 

And Aaron had.

“Fine.”

It had only taken a few seconds of Aaron looking at him expectantly without saying a word for Robert to falter. It made Aaron think that everyone, even Robert Sugden, could be predictable sometimes.

“I might have dragged the two of them into the break room earlier and locked them in there for an hour or so with some pizza and booze,” he explained with a sigh. “It was for their own good.”

There was a slight pause before a short, huffed laugh tumbled out of Aaron. It wasn‘t exactly the grand apologetic gesture that most people would probably have gone for under the circumstances, but it was the most Robert thing Aaron could think of.

“Like we said,” Robert elaborated, seemingly feeling the need to explain himself further, “they just needed to talk it all out, because us having given them a much needed push doesn´t take away from their feelings for each other, does it?” And now it was Robert‘s turn to look at Aaron expectantly.

“Guess not,” Aaron gave him a half shrug.

“They just needed to see that.”

Robert stood up from his chair then and walked around the desk until he was close enough to Aaron to let his hand find its way to his arm, the apology that was about to follow already etched into every feature of his face. “I'm still sorry,” he explained, every syllable dripping with a sincerity that seemed almost foreign to him.

“Not like I wasn't right there with you, was I?” Before Aaron even knew what he was doing, his fingers had found Robert's hand on his arm, his thumb's nimble movements acting as a stark contrast to Robert's tight grip. For a moment, the two of them just stared at their hands, taken aback by the touch. “Robert,” Aaron was the first to snap out of it. He spoke clearly now, waiting for the other man to face him again before he continued, ”it's fine. We're fine.”

Somehow, the air was still heavy. The unspoken thing between the two of them now filling every inch of space. Aaron took a step back, a small sigh of relief escaping his lips as soon as he managed to put some more space between them, Robert's palm dropping down to his thigh like he'd been burned.

“Anyway, you‘ve changed your tune,” Aaron noted, trying for a chuckle that he almost managed to make sound convincing. ”I thought you wanted Vic to dump him and get over her crush.”

“Yeah well,” Robert raised his eyebrows at him, “turns out they might be half decent together after all,” he hesitated. “For now.”

“Just another thing I was right about then.”

“Still, they could have just appreciated all the effort I put into making them happen in the first place and spared us the dramatics.”

“Oi!” Aaron slapped Robert's arm,”You?”

“We.” A smile found its way back onto Robert's face at that. “All the effort we put into it.” Aaron smiled right back.

“Better?”

“Much, ta.”

Confidence slowly creeping back in, Robert continued. “At least this way I won‘t have to take a grumpy and moping Vic home for the holidays,” he explained. ”Our family gatherings are fun enough already without her constantly snapping at everyone.”

Aaron only shook his head at him. ”Selfless to the core as always, I see,” he sighed.

“Like you don't love it, Dingle.”

There was a small pause as the two of them gravitated towards each other, the spark of uncertainty that had been building in Robert's gut dissipating the moment he saw Aaron beaming up at him.

“Just might, yeah.”

Within seconds, Aaron's hands were back on Robert, holding tight onto his waste. Mirroring his gesture, Robert let his fingers curl into the sides of Aaron's hoodie, pulling him closer and closer until his mouth landed on Aaron's.

At first it was just a peck, their mouths colliding as both of them smiled into it not even caring about the fact that they were a bit off-angle. But soon, Robert's hand was at the back of Aaron's neck, pulling at his hair and they were parting their lips, leaning into the excitement of it all as they let the feelings that had been building for weeks unravel in a clashing of their teeth as Aaron stumbled backwards against the door.

Robert pulled back for a second to catch his breath. Looking up, a deep, warm laugh started to fall from his mouth. With furrowed brows, Aaron followed him and spotted the mistletoe that Leyla had stuck to all the office doors in an act of rebellion against their corporate overlords. It was swinging back and forth above their heads in a dare. Grinning, Robert leaned down and rested his forehead against Aaron's.

“Regular cupid, me, eh?” he breathed out as he let his nose rub along Aaron's.

Aaron grabbed Robert by his shirt, pulling him in for another kiss. “Shut up,” he whispered into him as he let their bodies collide again, but his words got swallowed by the press of Robert's lips against his.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as part of this year´s [Christmas Calendar](https://robronchristmas2018.tumblr.com/). Find me on Tumblr [@vicbartons.](https://vicbartons.tumblr.com/)


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